Coco Gauff: "Many expected that I would win everything"
The American Coco Gauff spoke on the sidelines of the WTA 500 event in Adelaide about the pressure on her young shoulders.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 25, 2021, 07:21 pm
It is once again a very strong exclamation mark that Coco Gauff is sending towards the competition at the WTA 500 event in Adelaide these days. The only 16-year-old American is after victories against Petra Martic and Kaja Juvan, among others, in her third semi-final on the big WTA stage.
In this Gauff meets number two of the tournament, the Swiss Belinda Bencic. This is another game against one of the current greats in women's tennis. Games that Gauff goes to with a thoroughly positive attitude. "I definitely think I can win. But I don't necessarily expect it, I think," said the American on the sidelines of the tournament down under.
"Was the first time at these tournaments"
This is one of the many remarkable successes that Coco Gauff has already made in her young career. Successful runs that earned the 16-year-old enormous media coverage, especially because of her young age. A difficult situation, like the world number 52. told adelaideinternation.com: "When I showed up for the first time, a lot of people expected me to win every match," said Gauff.
The whole of 2019 would have been a year of getting used to it, as the American emphasizes: "The whole year it was the first time for me that I was ever at the various tournaments." A lot of people would have expected her to go out there and just win. "That was good, I was hoping to do it too."
Gauff for second WTA title
The following tournaments have shown that such a scenario is unrealistic at her age. Again and again, sensational performances were followed by early defeats. But now Coco Gauff seems to have found a suitable way of dealing with the media pressure, as the 16-year-old explains: "But now I have the feeling, I mean, I don't concentrate so much on the media anymore. I'm just trying to be in to stay in my own world. "
In Adelaide, Gauff now has the chance to win her second WTA tour after the triumph in Linz 2019. Should the American also master the hurdle Belinda Bencic in the semifinals, Iga Swiatek could wait in the final, who will face the next Swiss Jil Teichmann in the semifinals.